The Allahabad High Court Wednesday stayed the issuance of appointment letters in connection with the recruitment exercise of 4,000-odd sub-inspectors in the civil police and the PAC as platoon commanders. The recruitment exercise had began in 2011. The court will hear the case next on August 24.

A single-judge bench of Justice Suneet Kumar passed the order, while hearing a petition filed by Ashish Kumar Pandey and 29 others, through their counsels Seemant Singh and Kuldeep Yadav. Member of the Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (PRPB), Avinash Chandra, appeared before the court in the matter. A detailed order is yet to be made available.

The petitioners had been declared unsuccessful in the recruitment exercise for a total of 4,010 posts, the result for which was declared on June 25.

Yadav said: “Our contention was that these candidates had marginally higher marks than the lowest cut-off in the general category. But they have been declared unsuccessful, because candidates from Other Backward Classes (OBC) category were accommodated in the general category, on account of horizontal reservation. But their marks were lower than the lowest cut-off in the general category. Our submission before the court is that if such candidates are returned to their actual category, the petitioners may have a chance to get into the services. After perusing through the record, the court has stayed issuance of any appointment letter till the next hearing.”

Chairman (PRPB), Director General V K Gupta, said: “Member Avinash Chandra represented the Board in the court and explained the manner in which the horizontal reservation has been implemented. We will abide by the court’s instructions and are waiting for the order.”

Gupta added that as per information received, issuance of appointment letters has been stayed. “We will have to see whether it is only for those who are likely to be affected or for everybody…”